Merlin goes to Hogwarts
by Abcats
Summary: What if Hogwarts doesn't use modern technology because it's in the past? What if it's in Camelot during the time of King Arthur? When Arthur hears about a school that teaches magic he has to investigate, and of course he drags Merlin and the other knights with him. With old enemies and a school full of magic, how will Arthur cope? Set during s5 of Merlin and book 1 of HP.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I have been re-reading and trying to write the new chapter, and it just hasn't been working out, but fear not! I am not abandoning this, it just needs some editing. This is the updated chapter one. If you already read the original chapter one, there isn't a big need to read this, but you do need to know that I'm changing the POV from first person to third person. Other than that the chapter hasn't changed that much. Thank you everyone who has stuck with me so far. I will do my best not to disappoint you!**

 **I don't own Harry Potter or Merlin**

Chapter 1

For once, Merlin was managing to have a good day. His chores were done on time (with a little magical help), Gaius was in a good mood today, and Gwen had woken Arthur up this morning, so he wasn't yelled at for being late (as much). Of course that meant that something terrible was coming.

It all started during a round table meeting. Leon was droning on about patrols. Nobody was paying much attention, although most people were acting like they were listening intently. Gwaine wasn't even pretending to listen. Instead, he was tossing up and down an apple he'd produced from somewhere, even though Arthur had explicitly said no food in the council room after a fiasco last month involving three dogs, a sidhe, and a whole roast pig.

Speaking of Arthur, he was doing his best not to fall asleep on the table. Merlin noticed his eyes begin to close and his head begin to slump on more than one occasion. Suddenly, the doors to the council chamber burst open, and a man ran inside followed by two guards.

"We tried to stop him, your majesty," one of the guards said, panting.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt," the stranger spoke, not sounding out of breath at all. "But I have very urgent news that I think you'll want to hear." The guards that had been chasing him grabbed his arms.

"What would your majesty like us to do with him?" the one that had spoken before asked.

"Hang on," Arthur said, studying the man's face. "Let him speak. Obviously, he feels that whatever he has to tell us is important enough to risk punishment." The guards released him.

"Thank you, your majesty," the man said, bowing.

"What exactly have you come to tell us?" Arthur asked.

"Well, sire, my name is Matthew and I come from a small village near the western border of Camelot. For years my village has told stories of a great castle filled with students of magic. Nobody ever believed them, of course, which is why the king was never alerted before, but recently I was out hunting and I saw them. There were hundreds of them, and I saw one of them do magic. He waved his hand and a pineapple did a strange dance." Merlin glanced at Gaius. He had an expression on his face that was easily recognized. It was the expression that meant _I-think-I've-heard-it-before-but-just-to-be-sure-we-should-spend-all-night-looking-through-my-stacks-of-illegal-books_. Merlin groaned internally. Of course.

Arthur's face, on the other hand, looked skeptical. Matthew could see it too.

"Sire, you have to believe me, I'm not crazy!" He looked like he was going to protest more, but Arthur held up a hand to stop him.

"I will check the area myself, and if this magic school is real, I'll figure out what to do about it then. Merlin, pack the bags, we leave at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes, sire," he said, leaving the room to do as he said. As Merlin walked to Arthur's chambers, he couldn't help but think about the magic school. Who knew what kind of things they could learn there?

As soon as Merlin was out of the room, Arthur dismissed everyone and told someone to get Matthew a room. But before Mordred could leave, Arthur called for him to wait.

"Mordred, I'd like to speak with you privately." Mordred stopped and waited for everyone else to file out of the room.

"What would you like, sire?"

"You used to be a druid, did you not?" Instantly, Mordred froze, panicked thoughts racing through his head. Seeming to sense the knight's distress, Arthur spoke again.

"Don't worry, Mordred, I'm not going to have you executed. If I wanted to do that, why would I have knighted you?"

"You knew?" Mordred asked in shock.

"Of course I knew, how could I forget the druid boy I smuggled out of Camelot?"

"I just kind of assumed- I mean, you never said anything."

"Yes, well now I need your advice as a former druid. When you were living with them, did you ever hear anything about a magic school like this?" Mordred paused, thinking.

"There was one story the druid elders liked to tell," he began cautiously, half expecting him to attack. "It told of a castle deep in the woods that was designed to keep out all those who didn't have magic, and was meant to train those who did. The strangest part of that story, which is why I remember it still, is that supposedly, the students came from the future."

"The future?" Arthur asked incredulously. Mordred nodded.

"According to legend, the founders of the school wanted to keep hidden from anyone who would be able to find them and stop them from practicing magic, so they enchanted their school so it would transport their students to the past to learn."

Arthur seemed to think about this for a minute before speaking. "Very well then. Mordred, I'm assigning you a secret mission while I'm investigating the location where the castle is supposed to be. If this… magic school is real, we need to determine if they'll be a threat to us. I want you to go to the druids and learn as much about this school as they know." Mordred was shocked. He couldn't believe that King Arthur was actually sending him to the druids. Then he realized Arthur was waiting for an answer. He nodded.

"I'll leave tonight," he said confidently.

"No," Arthur said. "You'll leave tomorrow at dawn with me. That way, everyone will assume you are accompanying me on my quest."

"Yes sire." Mordred bowed quickly and left the room to pack.

MerlinI was about halfway through packing Arthur's bags when he walked into the room, flung the door closed behind him, and collapsed into an armchair.

"That bad, huh?" Merlin asked, handing Arthur the cup of wine he had poured when he arrived in the room, knowing Arthur would need it. Arthur just groaned in response. Merlin went back to packing silently. He knew by now if he kept quiet Arthur was more likely to tell him than if he badgered him for answers.

"I called Mordred back after the meeting," he spoke finally. Merlin stayed quiet. "You knew, right? That he was the druid boy we helped Morgana smuggle out of Camelot all those years ago?" Merlin had of course, but he was surprised that Arthur also had.

"Yes, I did," he said cautiously, still not facing Arthur. Then, Arthur seemed to come to a realization.

"That's why you always act so strange around him. It's your magic phobia."

Merlin frowned slightly. He didn't necessarily like pretending to be scared of magic in front of Arthur, but the made up phobia did allow him to hide his magic from Arthur during attacks. The real reason Merlin was wary of Mordred was because of an old prophecy that proclaimed Mordred would one day kill Arthur. Arthur took Merlin's silence as agreement.

"Anyway, I asked him about that magic school. He told me about an old druid legend that said there was a school for magic, but that the students came from the future." Merlin couldn't hide his surprise at that one.

"The future?" He sighed.

"Apparently. I don't suppose Gaius has ever mentioned anything like this to you?"

"No, he hasn't," Merlin told him, "but I can ask him about it if you like."

"Do that," Arthur instructed me. "I want as much information as we can possibly get before we go into this mission tomorrow. Merlin nodded and went back to stuffing clothes in Arthur's bag.

Gaius and his ward ate dinner in silence. When Merlin returned to the tower after packing for Arthur and making arrangements for the trip, the room was covered in various books and pieces of paper. The court physician had barely acknowledged him when he entered the room and was instead focusing intently on whatever was written in the book in front of him. Merlin spent the rest of the time before dinner flipping through his own magic book for any mention of a magical school, even though he pretty much had the book memorized at this point. Eventually, he made dinner for the both of them. He was washing up when Gaius jumped to his feet.

"I've got it!" he shouted. He turned the book so it was facing Merlin. "When Matthew was talking about it I knew I'd heard something like this before. Not much is known about it, but most legends agree with what the druids say, that is, that the students come from the future. Once, a knight tried to go in to investigate. He was missing for weeks, and when he returned, he had no idea who he was. The only thing they managed to get out of him was the word 'Hogwarts.'"

"Hogwarts?" Merlin asked. "What in the world does that mean?"

Gaius shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know." Then an idea came to his mind.

"But we might just know someone who does." Merlin immediately realized what he meant.

"I'll be back later." Merlin dashed out of the room and, making sure not to be seen, made his way to the nearby clearing in the forest. There, he called out in the dragon tongue for Kilgharrah. It wasn't much longer before the golden dragon descended from the sky and landed in front of him.

"Hello, young warlock," he greeted. "What have you summoned me for this time?" Merlin launched into the tale of the visiting stranger and the mysterious school. When he finished, the dragon had a curious expression on his face. "That is most interesting indeed, young warlock. I'm afraid I don't have much more information for you."

"You said 'much.' Does that mean you do have some?"

"Very perspective. Yes, I do know a little more, but not enough to satisfy your curiosity completely. The dragons first heard of this school many years ago. One of the dragonlords went to investigate at our request. He spoke to a group of four magic users who explained to him their plan to bring students of magic to the past, our time, to save them from persecution in their own. They would not tell him much, seeing as too much future knowledge could have catastrophic consequences, but they came to an agreement that as long as the students there stayed within a certain boundary, we would make sure no one from this time bothered them. The dragons and their lords spread the word of an area in the woods that no one was to go to because it was contaminated with the dangerous remains of a spell gone wrong. Certain groups were told as much of the truth as we knew, the druids being one of them, but over time that knowledge has faded into legend." When the dragon had finished speaking, Merlin stayed silent letting it all sink in. It just didn't seem real to him, a magic school from the future? When he finally found my voice, he thanked Kilgharrah for the information. Then a thought occurred to him.

"You know, I think that's the most straightforward answer you've ever given to me," he remarked smirking.

"While that may be, this is only information. What you choose to do with it is still up to you." With that, he flapped his wings and flew away, not giving the warlock time to respond. He walked back up to the castle in silence, mulling over what the dragon had told him. Whatever came next was going to be very interesting, he could tell.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So this is going to be kind of a long author's note, but PLEASE READ because it's important. I've already received so much support from just one chapter, so to anyone who's actually taken the time to read this, thank you. When I started this story, I wrote the first chapter and then realized I didn't have a plot for this story at all; hence the long break. I have since come up with a plot, BUT because of this I am changing the timing of the story. Originally I set this in s5 of Merlin and Book 5 of HP. I am sticking with s5 of Merlin because Mordred will play an important role in the story, but I am switching to Book 1 of HP. Nothing about chapter 1 of the story has changed, but when they arrive at Hogwarts Harry, Ron, and Hermionie will be in first year. Now, without further ado, let's get on with chapter 2.**

 **I don't own Merlin or Harry Potter**

Chapter 2

Merlin's POV

Gaius woke me up at the crack of dawn.

"Merlin, you're going to be late." I mumbled something and tried to roll over, but Gaius stopped me. "It's almost time for you to leave," he said urgently. Immediately I shot up.

"The trip!" Today was the day we were leaving to go investigate the magic school. An entire school, just for magic users. The idea was such a foreign concept, I could barely wrap my mind around it. I quickly grabbed the bag I had packed last night and ran to Arthur's room. He was already up and dressed when I arrived.

"Look who finally managed to dress himself," I quipped. He threw a cup at me which I easily dodged.

"You're late," he frowned. "You were supposed to be here with my breakfast half an hour ago." I shrugged, unapologetically. Arthur sighed. "Just go prepare the horses."

"Right away, _sire_ ," I said, making sure to make the use of his title sound both sarcastic and respectful, something I'd perfected over the years. Even though I didn't look back at him as I left, I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

When I arrived at the stables, I found Mordred already there, grooming his own horse. He looked up at me when I arrived.

"Hello, Emrys," he greeted. I shifted uncomfortably at his use of my druidic name.

"I've told you, Mordred, just call me Merlin." He looked down and was silent for a while. I had begun saddling Arthur's horse when he spoke again.

"Arthur knows about me," he said quietly. "Who I used to be." His wording threw me off guard.

"Used to be?" I questioned. "Do you not consider yourself a druid anymore?"

"I don't see how I can," he replied. "I've strayed so far from their teachings, I mean, look at me now! I'm a knight of Camelot!" I didn't know how to respond to him, so instead I focused on a difficult buckle. Eventually, he spoke again.

"Arthur's sending me back to the druids. He wants me to ask them about this school." I was surprised at that.

"He's sending you alone?" Mordred nodded. He opened his mouth to speak again, hesitated, and closed it. I was about to ask what was wrong, but at that moment the knights and Arthur showed up.

"Alright, everybody, let's go," Arthur said, swinging himself up onto the horse I was holding steady for him. The rest of us mounted our own horses, and we rode off without another word.

Mordred's POV

I hung back as we rode, preoccupied with thoughts of my upcoming mission. The other knights and King Arthur were chattering about a recent tournament (that the king had won, of course), but I couldn't focus on what they were saying. Emrys must have noticed how zoned-out I was, because he held back to ride next to me.

' _What's wrong, Mordred?'_ he spoke into my mind. I hesitated before responding.

' _I'm just worried about going back. What if they reject me?'_

' _The druids?'_ I shot him an incredulous look.

' _Who else would I be talking about?'_ He held his hands up in defense.

' _Sorry, it's just, have you ever known the druids to reject anybody?'_ I paused and thought about what he'd said before slowly shaking my head.

' _I suppose not, but there's a first time for everything.'_

' _Mordred, stop stressing about this. No matter what you're doing now, you were one of them once. They won't let that go, and neither should you.'_ I was about to respond to him, when Gwaine shouted from up ahead.

"Hey slowpokes! Hurry it up, would you?" We both increase our speed and quickly caught up with the rest of the group. We'd stopped at a fork in the road.

"Well Mordred," Arthur began, "I believe this is where we part."

"Hang on, part? Mordred not coming with us?" Elyan questioned.

"No. Mordred has his own mission. I'm sending him to go speak with the druids to try and learn more about this magical school."

"Hang on, sire," Leon spoke up. "Why him? And why are you sending him by himself?" Arthur looked at me, clearly asking if I was ok with the knights knowing about my secret. I looked them over. I knew that Leon would never tell anyone if Arthur asked him not to, and the same applied to Elyan. Percival never said much to anyone, and Gwaine, though he could be somewhat rowdy at times, was a good friend, and I trusted him to keep my secret.

"It's because I used to be a druid," I said, answering Leon's questions. The knights turned to look at me. I focused on the ground, not wanting to see their responses. Thankfully, Arthur spoke up.

"For obvious reasons, I would like to keep this under wraps. I can count on all of you not to tell anyone?" Leon was the first to answer.

"Of course, sire." Elyan nodded in agreement, though I could still see a slight wariness in his eyes.

"Mordred's secret is safe with me," Percival said.

"Absolutely," Gwaine added.

"Good," Arthur said. "In that case, good luck on your journey, Mordred."

"Thank you sire," I said, before riding off down the east-bound path towards the druid camps.

Merlin's POV

We watched Mordred ride off on his own for a short time before Arthur commanded us to keep moving. My earlier talk with Mordred was still echoing in my head. Kilgarrah had warned me time and time again about the evil Mordred was going to end up being, but after what he'd just said to me, I was having trouble seeing it. He was so worried about still belonging with the druids, despite being a knight. Suddenly, I was reminded of the crystal cave. When I visited I saw images of the future, and in trying to prevent them I instead ended up causing them. Maybe I was being too cautious with Mordred, blaming him for something he hasn't done yet, and may not ever do. I resolved to try and talk to him more after this mission.

Up ahead of me, Gwaine was driving Arthur crazy.

"Are we there yet?"

"For the last time, Gwaine, we get there when we get there, and we most certainly are not there yet," Arthur replied, barely keeping it together. "I'd say we have at least a days more ride ahead of us, and that's if absolutely nothing happens between here and there that would slow us down." Of course, the moment he said that, I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. Leon must have seen it the same moment I did.

"Sire," he warned. Arthur barely had time to look up before they were on us. The knights quickly drew their swords and began to make quick work of the bandits. At one point, I noticed a man in a tree with a crossbow, but it only took a thought to snap the branch he was sitting on and send him tumbling to the ground. Besides that minor interference from me, the knights had the situation completely handled. It wasn't long before all of the bandits were either dead, severely wounded, or retreating, and there wasn't even a scratch on any member of our group. No one had even ever dismounted.

"Right then," Arthur said, wiping his blade with a spare piece of cloth, "let's keep going, shall we?" The rest of us agreed, and we kept riding on.

Mordred's POV

After separating from the group, I rode by myself for a few hours before I started to hear whispers at the back of my mind. I knew from experience that this meant I was getting close to a large settlement of magic users. The druid camp was nearby. It wasn't much longer before I started to see tents. A few children were playing nearby. They looked up when I rode past. I'd made sure to take off my Pendragon red cape, but I was still wearing my chainmail and armor.

As I got closer to the heart of the camp, the tents grew closer and closer together. A man was waiting for me in the center. I dismounted and walked the last few steps towards him.

"Mordred, welcome home," he greeted me.

"Iseldir," I responded, recognizing him instantly. "I'm not here to stay."

"I had assumed as much," he started walking towards one of the tents, prompting me to follow. "What can I do for you?" We arrived at the tent and I tied my horse to a nearby tree before following him inside.

"Well," I began, "I don't know if you know, but I'm currently… that is, I'm a knight of Camelot."

"I'd heard," he responded, calmly. I was surprised for a moment. He didn't hate me? Then I remembered I had a job to do.

"Right. Anyway, the other day, a man came to Arthur and told him about this castle in the middle of the woods where children were doing magic, and it reminded me of that old story about the magic school with students from the future."

"So you came here to ask if I knew any more about that?" Iseldir guessed.

"Yes," I admitted.

"In that case, I don't believe I can help you. I don't know any more than you do about this legend."

"What? You don't know?" I was shocked. Iseldir always seemed like he knew everything about everything.

"No, I don't." I was about to speak again when he held up a hand and cut me off. "But, I know somebody who does."

Merlin's POV

The rest of the trip went smoothly after the bandits. We stopped for the night in a small clearing and kept riding the next morning. As we got closer to our destination, I felt anticipation welling up inside me. We were only planning to observe, but we would be observing sorcerers from the future! I wondered how different the kind of magic they did would be from the kind we know now.

Arthur, however, was getting noticeably quieter with every step.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I've just been thinking," he began.

"Don't hurt yourself," I teased, hoping it would snap him out of whatever mood he was getting into. He frowned and threw an apple from the pack strapped to his saddle at me, but I could tell my plan had worked.

"So what exactly have you been thinking oh so hard about?" I asked.

"Do you think I'm making the right choice? By trying to investigate this _magic school_ peacefully, I mean." I pondered the best way to respond.

"I think," I began slowly, "that investigating is definitely better than charging in blindly." He nodded, but I could tell that he was still questioning his decision. "You are the king, Arthur," I reminded him. "If you believe that remaining peaceful is best for your kingdom, then it is the right choice." Just then, we arrived at the edge of the trees. There, right in the middle of the woods, just where we were told it would be, was a giant castle.

"Whoa," Gwaine breathed. Whoa was definitely the correct word to describe it. Looking at it now, I was amazed we hadn't ever seen it before. I supposed there must be enchantments placed over it that prevented anyone from seeing it from a distance, otherwise there would have been no way of missing it, even from a distance.

"Look," Percival pointed. Nearby, there was a lake, and under a tree next to the lake a red-headed boy was reading. That's not what Percival had pointed towards, though. What he'd brought our attention to, was the two other redheads creeping up behind him with handfuls of mud. In unison, they sprang, both landing direct shots to his face before running off. He shouted angrily after them, but didn't pursue. Instead, he grabbed some sort of stick and waved it in the direction of his face, muttering something as he did so. To my astonishment, as well as the astonishment of the others, the mud vanished without a trace.

"Magic," Arthur whispered, though he didn't sound angry or accusing. We stayed silent after that, none of us knowing what to say.


End file.
